INTRODUCTION

The most authoritative source of information and recommendations regarding climate change is the IPCC - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change {established jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)}.  The IPCC recently (February 2007) started releasing its Fourth Assessment Report (FAR) - which updates our current understanding of the issue considerably from the 2002 Third Assessment Report (often identified as TAR).  The IPCC is divided into a series of working groups, each focusing on a different aspect of the issue: Working Group I addresses The Physical Science Basis, Working Group II  addresses Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability, Working Group III addresses Mitigation of Climate Change.    The first phase of the 2007 report released in February 2007 was the Summary for Policymakers, a brief (just 18 page) and quite readable summary of our current knowledge on the nature and evidence of climate change and the extent to which human (anthropogenic) release of greenhouse gases is contributing to the problem.  This contains two critical assessments:

1. With regard to the existence of climate change:
   “Warming of the climate is unequivocal as is evident from evidence of increases in global average temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”  The report notes that carbon dioxide levels are higher than they have been in the last 650,000 years (through several pronounced glacial and interglacial periods) and further that the rate of increase is very likely greater than at any time in the last 10,000 years. Meanwhile, the report notes, eleven of the twelve hottest years on record have occurred in the last twelve years.
2. With regard to the extent to which human activities are contributing to the problem:
   “Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid 20th century is very likely* due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentration.” 

*Elsewhere in the report as terms are defined, we discover the assessment 'very likely' implies a specific and very precise judgment - i.e. 'greater than a 90% probability'

Essentially, then, while the IPCC experts are extremely confident that climate change is occurring, they are 'only' 90% certain that it is influenced by human activity. The question that we must ask, then, is "Given this level of confidence, what should we, as residents of the planet, do?"

State and city government leaders throughout our nation  are recognizing that it is time to take action.  The Southeast Missouri Climate Change Initiative has been established by a group of local community residents who feel that Southeast Missouri should not be left behind; it is equally time for us to take action.

Computer model extrapolation to Missouri from Illinois data for 2100 suggests a 30F - 70F increase in temperature, with a significant increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration reaching somewhere in the range of 540 to 850 parts per million with little or no change in precipitation.  While higher CO2 might seem beneficial to plant growth and agricultural systems, increased temperatures cause enhanced water loss through accelerated evaporation (from ground and leaf surfaces).  Lacking increased rainfall, the impact could be damaging to agricultural production - a result compounded by the drop in crop production that occurs directly as a result of increasing temperature.

OBJECTIVE
The Southeast Missouri Climate Protection Initiative is a non-partisan community organization dedicated to promoting activities in Southeast Missouri that will reduce to the extent possible and feasible the release of greenhouse gases into our global environment.  Although, as an organization, we are striving for a non-partisan approach to the issue, we encourage and warmly welcome folks of any political background to join us in this venture.